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Just don't pretend you know more about your characters than they do, because you don't. Stay open to them. It's teatime and the dolls are at the table. Listen. It's that simple.
-- Anne Lamott
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You're Only as Free as You Are Independent |
 Independence Day should be a reminder of that to all of us - that we're only as free as we are independent. It's why we broke away from Britain. It's why the Tea Parties sprung up all over the US in the last 18 months. As our politicians do their level best to place government at the center of everything in the United States, the next two elections will illustrate whether our citizens want independence and freedom - or not.
Personally, I think the jury is out. I do believe that there is a point at which the people crave freedom. The question is whether they will gain that desire and the know-how (voting in freedom-preserving politicians) before it's too late to reverse it. The more we look to government to be an answer to problems, the more we vote for politicians who will make us dependent on government. That's axiomatic. The more government is centralized in our lives, the less freedom we have to chart our own course and determine the direction of our own lives. Nothing that government gives us comes without serious strings attached, in part because we're the ones footing the bill and in part because government will need to control our behavior to make things work as their solutions require. Said another way, greater and greater government is lesser and lesser individual choice. After all, the word "govern" means "to control." Don't want someone controlling your life? Then vote for less government. That too is axiomatic. But somewhere along the way, the politicians and the media worked over the people of America and convinced them that we the people just aren't smart enough to actually manage our own affairs. It's why we suffer the expense of stupid labeling on products (don't climb inside dryer while drying), why we suffer the expense of ever-increasing regulations on products and services (because we obviously need a bureaucrat peering over our shoulder 24/7 to help prevent us from hurting ourselves), and why we suffer the expense of more and more government intervention into the private sector (CEO, you're fired - and employee, you don't deserve that raise or that bonus). At some point in the last three months, I realized that I was depending on the people of the United States to be smart enough to reject more government. But I had watched the Tea Party of Iowa fester to ineffectiveness because of its insistence on religion and not the spending in Washington and here in Iowa. I saw the GOP get all excited about, well, the GOP, and not freedom for individuals. I remembered again that people only change lifelong habits when they're forced to do so because of the persistent pain they're enduring. Maybe the hike in next year's tax rates will bring that about... I don't know. What I do know is that I can't be free if I'm depending on Joe and Jane Citizen to wake the hell up. I know what I can change and what I can't, and my focus has moved from political activism to personal freedom. I can sway some folks and help lead an effort, but I've learned that such an effort takes the kind of money and time that I don't yet have. As a result, I'm working to secure both. I'm only as free as I am independent. You are too. Happy Independence Day. |
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What's the difference between Chuck Grassley and Roxanne Conlin? |
On May 20, 2010, Chuck Grassley broke ranks with Republicans in the Senate and voted for the Democrats' financial reform bill. Because he did that, the Democrats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate were able to work out a compromise financial reform package. Had Chuck Grassley not voted for that first bill on May 20th, it wouldn't have reached compromise, but because he voted "Yea," it passed 59-39, as opposed to 58-40, which would have allowed a filibuster against the bill and prevented it from moving forward. According to the Washington Post article, "A new consumer protection bureau housed in the Federal Reserve would have independent funding, an independent leader and near-total autonomy to write and enforce rules. The government would have broad new powers to seize and wind down large, failing financial firms and to oversee the $600 trillion derivatives market." I ask: why would Chuck Grassley support Washington having more power and near-total autonomy and new authority to seize the private sector? Is that what you wanted? He said that the reason he voted for the first bill was that despite its flaws, "a message needs to be sent to Wall Street that business-as-usual is over." Last year, Chuck Grassley held several town halls, all of which were well-attended. He insisted that he got the message. That message was that We the People wanted less government intrusion into our lives. His vote for bigger and more powerful government, at odds with his fellow Republicans in the Senate, shows that he clearly didn't get the message at all. Let me ask you: did he represent you when he voted for a bill that will make lending more expensive to you? Let me ask you: which is the bigger threat to your children's future? Is it Wall Street or is it Big Government? The sad truth of it is that our Republican Senator is less Chris Christie than he is Arnold Schwarzenegger. On May 20, 2010, Roxanne Conlin might as well have been our senator. It's true... because like Chuck Grassley, she would have voted for that financial reform bill. I mean, a supporter of big government, by any other name, is still a supporter of big government. No wonder Conlin is closing in on him in the polls. Chuck Grassley makes it hard to tell the two of them apart. We need to face the fact that our Republican Senator wears big government stripes. And he wears them proudly. To him, every problem in America is a problem the government needs to handle. At every opportunity, Chuck Grassley works to give government more control and more money. Somewhere along the way, he forgot that his primary job in Washington is not to solve our every problem, but to protect our freedoms. We gave a pretty good effort last year at the town halls. We took time out of our work day. We crafted signs. We spoke out. In fact, we showed up in such numbers that he had to change venues to accommodate the crowd. All that effort, evidently, is soon forgotten. I'm not exactly sure what it would take to remind Senator Grassley what We the People want. But just in case he or someone on his staff reads this, here's a hint: Limited Government. For more detail about how that's supposed to work, I highly recommend the Constitution of the United States of America.A message needs to be sent to Senator Grassley that bigger-and-bigger-government-as-usual is over. We sent it once, and he didn't listen. But if he doesn't get that message now, Chuck and Roxanne look pretty much the same in many ways.  |
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Rebirth, or Revisitation, or... something |
A decade ago, I wrote a software product called Newsletter Ease. It's still in use by the Business Record here in Des Moines, and by the Iowa Sports Connection. As a product, it had a ton of good features, which I think is why it has endured for some organizations as long as it has. Late at night, I'm recreating some of its functionality into my web site toolkit that I offer to clients. It's interesting to tackle again the logic and interface hurdles that I encountered in 2000. Hopefully tonight I make significant movement in wrapping up template management. It's funny how much of my previous work is all coming together now. |
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Recently, I wrote about the Iowa GOP's lack of willingness to engage me and my services. Fair enough. Evidently, what I offer is not attractive to that market. My belief about Des Moines Amplified, which I say over and over to our hosts, is that it serves as a networking hub. You'll meet people through this place that you would have never met otherwise. While you might not make your income here, you might double your income. I got a call this morning from one of our hosts. If all goes as planned, I'll have a meeting with one of the longest serving and highest-ranking Democrats in the Midwest sometime in the next week. The reason? The politician needs a new web site. Me, one of the founders of the tea party in Iowa, perhaps doing work for a prominent Democrat because the GOP wouldn't give me the time of day... Don't know if it will happen, but I find it absolutely hilarious that it's even in discussion. And as I said before, if hired, I'll give the same level of passionate customer service and strategic consulting I give to all of my clients. Funnier yet if it then leads to other work... |
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Today on Father's Day, some of my sons and I played Outburst, a game in which you have to guess 10 answers within a given category. One of the categories was "States that end in the letter 'A'," and given that 21 states end in the letter A, it wasn't too hard. But how many words in the English language end in the letter A? Very few. And yet, nearly half of the United States end in A. Can you name them? Which state ends in G? Which state ends in K? Which state ends in H? Which 3 states end in I? Which 2 states end in T? Which 2 states end in Y? Which 2 states end in D? 3 letters - E, N, and O - have 4 states each. Can you name them? And finally, what states end in S? Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there. Hats off to the dads I know who regularly read this blog: PR, Jeff, Casey, and Hoss (whose artwork I will soon blog about). |
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Got a call this morning from Mike [don't recall his last name] of the Associated Press. His question: "You were one of the founding members of the Tea Party in Iowa; where's the Tea Party headed?" My answers, in case I get misquoted: "I'm not really involved in Iowa's Tea Party effort any longer because rather than focus on fiscal issues, locally they took it down a social conservative path. I'm not a Christian, so I'm involved in other things. In other areas of the country, they're focusing on the corrupt spending in government, and their numbers are growing. Good for them." "Why did you get involved in the Tea Party?" "Because the leadership in Washington thought it was okay to 'take over' private companies. That's not government's role. Private companies belong to the shareholders and the founders and owners. It's a violation of privacy and freedom." "So where is the Tea Party headed? What happens next?" "Math wins. You can't ignore the numbers, and our government is spending our children into their future bankruptcy. Both Republicans and Democrats are to blame for that, and both Republicans and Democrats are joining the Tea Party. My folks, lifelong Democrats, will likely vote Republican in the future. That will continue to happen until the leadership in Washington is voted out of office." |
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How Not to Clean Up a Mess |
Obama voter, law professor Ann Althouse, watched the president's address to the nation and was utterly unimpressed. Well, that was a terrible speech! When it wasn't grim and dreary, it was grandiose. But the grandiosity was so vague... and half-hearted. Barry H. Obama - Super Genius.One of her commenters makes an excellent point about the, ahem, oil cleanup effort. Think of the oil leak in real life terms in your own home.You didn't watch your kids very well and they went and broke one of those light bulbs that contain mercury. (You know... the ones that Obama wants us to use) So instead of cleaning up the mess you decide to throw out all of the light bulbs in your house, beat your children to within an inch of their lives and decide to invent a new light bulb. Nevermind that you will be sitting in the dark for 15 years or that you don't have a fucking clue on HOW to invent a light bulb. Meanwhile you have broken glass and mercury all over your house. Maybe we should have elected a MOM in chief instead of a planner. Mom would have cleaned up the mess, disciplined the kids and made some sandwiches. Oh....also...you plan to make all of your neighbors pay for your new project and take away all of their light bulbs too. Anyone who still thinks that ol' Barry is a smart leader probably didn't have a capable mother against whom to compare our nation's leader. Because no mom would act so little in the presence of such a mess. |
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